Blackbaud Enterprise Fundraising CRM vs. Fundraise Up

It works well enough for fundraising purposes and donor tracking. I think it would be less appropriate for instances or industries where you don't need so many data points on someone. You are able to attach a lot of information to a record so if you don't need that info (simply need contact info for example) you might want a simpler system

Incentivized

FundraiseUp is best utilized in arenas where the non-profit has some room for growth/expansion and/or the market is medium/large (100,000+ city). Small audience organizations might see some improvement but in my estimation won't see the ROI from the 5% (or more) charge per donation. Both well-established orgs and growing ministries can benefit from this platform. Another great reason to go with FRU is the incredibly easy user-interface for both the donor and the admin. The AI features built into the form provide incredible LIVE adjustments to optimize conversions and monthly giving. It is worth the extra cost (per donation) if you're community is large enough

Incentivized

• Accessing in-depth data for a single constituent is easily done and customizable by user working with "tiles" on the home screen
• Generating lists of possible prospects with specific similarities can be done with a few clicks and then stored for more research later
• well designed relationship options allow for a a look at specific constituents and how they might relate to other constituents in the system leading to more effective prospecting
• Screens can be easily customized by user or user group eliminating irrelevant data and presenting only truly relevant information

Incentivized

• Donation Upselling through AI
• Donation and Donor Management
• Integration with External CRMs

Incentivized

• Certain aspects of Blackbaud are oddly non-customizable.
• Blackbaud updates/support is slow and often ineffective - our organization switched to Microsoft 365, which is apparently incompatible with Blackbaud. Help/support recommended clunky workarounds that don't actually work, rather than proactively enhancing compatibility
• There should be a flag in constituent search to show which people in the results list are deceased.
• Query isn't very user friendly. It should be simple to locate the information that you want to pull, and add parameters to that information. Instead you have to write multiple queries to set parameters, then write a query that looks at those other queries. It's time-consuming and easy to make mistakes, and the knowledge/proficiency is difficult to explain or transfer to new staff.
• Blackbaud generally just feels like its technology is outdated. It wasn't built for the needs of a modern organization, and its developers have failed to make the necessary improvements over time to stay competitive.

Incentivized

• Pricing Model is a Bit Steep
• Non-Digital Donation Tracking Limited
• Tech Support Delayed Responses/No Live Chat or Phone

Incentivized

We've covered a lot, but mostly because we are happy with the system overall. There are a few kinks, and sometimes it takes a minute to figure out the right wording to pull a report or the best way to code a new category that we want to track. But Blackbaud is always there to help us, and once things are figured out - they are super simple to replicate. It wouldn't be worth it to switch to a new system and lose of all our information and time put in to mastering the system

Incentivized

It is an excellent database! There isn't a database on the market which is perfect for everyone but this one is very very close and does most of what we need.

For both donors and admin, Fundraise Up is the best donation platform (gateway) that I have ever used. It is optimized throughout the experience to be incredibly easy and unmatched in how robust it is. The many options Fundraise Up provides from sticky buttons, to pop-ups, to full landing pages is diverse and serves any need an org might have.

Incentivized

I have not personally had to reach out to Blackbaud CRM Support, because we have a central office that manages the Blackbaud CRM relationship. However, any time I've reached out to our support team, there is nothing they can't figure out by utilizing the support they receive from Blackbaud CRM. I've not had any issues that have gone unresolved, and they can always get things done in a timely fashion.

Incentivized

Most of our issues were self-inflicted and related to BB's work. We did not "staff up" correctly, our data to be converted was not in great shape and we set some unreasonable goals. With BBs help we were able to clean our data and prep it for conversion and we adjusted the goals to be more achievable with the timeline we were given. We found the BB staff to be responsive and focused, especially when working on-site with us.

Incentivized

Blackbaud CRM is more robust and has better functionality. It is necessary for a bigger fundraising shop. Blackbaud Raiser's Edge and NXT worked well in smaller organizations with fewer users and fewer donors/prospects. RE was more affordable than CRM was for the smaller organization.

Incentivized

Fundraise Up understands their lane and they absolutely nail it! They have worked hard to be the very best in their niche and have gone above and beyond to integrate with other solutions for a streamlined approach to data management. I have not experienced a better solution in my almost 20 years of nonprofit marketing.

Incentivized

• Change is always expensive and painful, but CRM is worth the time and effort. One immediate benefit is improved transparency internally, especially for internal accounting, controls, and compliance departments.
• Cloud hosting helps cut cost and demand on organization staff. Improves access and meets compliance on every level.
• Ability to make global changes to recording donor phone communication makes it a one-stop resource for a well-run development team.

Incentivized

• 40% increase in monthly donors over 18-month period
• Processing charges covered went from 23% to 42% in 12 months
• Ease-of-use for non-tech Employees

Incentivized